Central America
Colombia rejects Hague ruling in Nicaragua maritime dispute
Protests swept Colombia following a World Court ruling that awarded Caribbean waters potentially rich in hydrocarbons to Nicaragua.
Author: Bill Weinberg
East Asia
Fukushima: thyroid growths in children spark concern
Fukushima parents are charging lack of transparency after tests of children since the nuclear disaster began revealed 35% to have abnormal thyroid growths.
North Africa
Mali: Europe prepares intervention
Military experts from Africa, the United Nations and Europe have drafted plans to retake control of northern Mali, as West African nations prepare a request for armed intervention.
Afghanistan
US in Afghanistan beyond 2014: Gen. Dunford
The next commander of US forces in Afghanistan is prepared to testify that he wants to see a significant US military presence in Afghanistan after the end of 2014.
North Africa
Petraeus prostration: Benghazi blowback?
David Petraeus was scheduled to testify before Congress on the Benghazi attack when he was brought down by a sex scandal. Did the FBI instrument the revelation to silence him?
Palestine
Chomsky sloppy on Gaza —and timid on Palestine’s future
Noam Chomsky, writing on his visit to the Gaza Strip, gets numerous facts wrong. But worse is his acceptance of the "two-state solution," a betrayal of secular-democratic principles.
North America
Obama’s re-election: more historic than 2008?
Obama was re-elected with a shrinking minority of the white vote compared to 2008. This bodes poorly for the GOP's future, and also explains its radicalization.
Planet Watch
Sandy and climate change: media hot air
Media bloviators argue about whether superstorm Sandy was "caused by" climate change, oblivious to the obvious reality: such extreme weather events are climate change!
New York City
NYC: obligatory disaster rant
"Mandatory evacuation" set a dangerous precedent for executive power and displacement of the poor—but will the "Frankenstorm" at least be a climate-change wake-up call?
Central America
Criminal gangs threaten Maya Biosphere Reserve
Mexican drug cartels that use cattle ranching to launder narco-profits as well as Chinese-backed illegal timber gangs are eating into Guatemala's vast Maya Biosphere Reserve.
East Asia
Multiple flashpoints threaten to ignite East Asia
North Korea threatens military action against the South, South Korea's Coast Guard attacks a Chinese fishing fleet, and China sends a naval force into waters claimed by Japan…
Europe
France: Muslims under attack… and Jews
A right-wing "Identity Group" seized a mosque in Poitiers, issuing a "declaration of war" against the "Islamization" of France—weeks after a bomb attack on a kosher shop in Paris.